Bill Kimber interview (transcript)

Ranch Family Oral History Project: Bill Kimber Page 1
RANCH FAMILY ORAL HISTORY PROJECT
TRANSCRIPTION COVER SHEET
Interviewee: Bill Kimber
Place of Interview: Kimber Home, Grouse Creek, Utah
Date of Interview: November 8, 2010
Interviewer: Randy Williams
Recordist: Randy Williams
Recording Equipment: Marantz digital recorder: model No: PMD660; Shure omnidirectional microphone: model no.MX 183
Transcription Equipment: Power Player Transcription Software: Executive Communication Systems with foot pedal
Transcribed by: Susan Gross
Transcript Proofed by: Randy Williams (8 February 2011); Bill did not return transcript with edits (3 August 2011)
Brief Description of Contents: Mr. Bill Kimber talks about his ranch property in Grouse Creek, Utah. He talks about being the fifth generation to ranch the family property and the other jobs he has worked in order to continuing ranching his own property.
Reference: RW = Randy Williams (Interviewer)
BK = Bill Kimber (Interviewee)
NOTE: Interjections during pauses or transitions in dialogue such as “uh” and starts and stops in conversations are not included in transcribed. All additions to transcript are noted with brackets.
TAPE TRANSCRIPTION
[00:01]
RW: I’m at Bill Kimber’s home here, in Grouse Creek/Etna – I’m not sure what you say.
BK: Grouse Creek.
RW: Grouse Creek? Ranch Family Oral History Project: Bill Kimber Page 2
BK: Yeah.
RW: It’s the eighth of November, 2010.
BK: Yes.
RW: Well Bill, tell me a little bit about your background: where you grew up, your family, your parents’ names, and so forth.
BK: I grew up here.
RW: Right here, in this place?
BK: Well, not this house.
RW: This very ground.
BK: The main house is over there in the trees. I went away for three years to high school; graduated high school in Tremonton: Bear River High; opted out of college, because at the time dad’s health wasn’t good.
RW: And your dad is Jack?
BK: Yes. My mother is Marian.
RW: What was your mom’s maiden name?
BK: Pearson.
RW: Pearson. Pearson – are there Pearson’s around here?
BK: In Nevada, in Montello.
RW: In Montello, okay.
BK: Her mother and father moved from Arco, Idaho, when she was eight years old, and bought a small ranch in the Montello area. Her dad worked for the old Sierra Pacific Ranch (which is the Gamble Ranch Winecup).
RW: Um-hmm.
BK: And then bought this place himself.
RW: Okay.
[01:26]
BK: Mom and dad met in Montello, because at the time, Montello had a high school. Ranch Family Oral History Project: Bill Kimber Page 3
RW: Oh.
BK: And that’s where my dad (who grew up here), that’s where he went to high school.
RW: What time period was that, when your folks were getting married?
BK: Oh, that had to be about 1950-’51.
RW: And your dad is Jack?
BK: Yes.
RW: When is your birthday? When were you born?
BK: Sixty-four. [1964] I did have eight siblings; my two older brothers died. One in an accident, one was crib death. But I do now have eight siblings. This particular ranch, I’m the fifth generation.
RW: Were they all Kimbers? Is it back to Kimber?
BK: Yes, yes. My great-grandfather came from England, landed in New York; ended up in Tooele, and then ended up buying this property from the railroad. And then he brought his mother and dad after he kind of got it secured; brought his mother and dad and brothers. And every Kimber in Grouse Creek, or around, started on this soil.
RW: Okay. Now I heard about a big Kimber reunion. Does your family participate in that?
BK: Not very often. They used to.
RW: Uh-huh.
BK: Before my time, they used to have it here.
RW: Did they?
[03:06]
BK: But, no.
RW: Well, let’s talk about your time in the ranching. You graduated from high school over in Tremonton, and then did you come back out here to the ranch?
BK: Yes.
RW: Have you ever worked for other ranches?
BK: I have. I started in the fall of [19]’83, I went to work for Simplot (which is the biggest ranch in this area). Ranch Family Oral History Project: Bill Kimber Page 4
RW: Uh-huh.
BK: And I worked for them, off and on, both part-time, full-time, until three years ago.
RW: What were some of the things you were doing for Simplot?
BK: I was a cowboy. The one and the only cowboy [laughs]. My official title was “lead cowboy.”
RW: Uh-huh. One of the things I’ve been talking to folks about is the cyclical nature of ranch work, starting – you know, it’s hard to decide – when do you start? Do you start at shipping and go through your season? Do you start in January? You know, when does a season start to you? Would you mind walking me through it?
BK: I don’t think I could put a season on it; it’s full time.
RW: Um-hmm, yeah right; it’s a full time job. So let’s start with this time, you know.
BK: Okay, I guess if I really had to think about it, I would think it starts in spring: when you start calving.
[04:30]
RW: Okay.
BK: About the middle of February.
RW: So in this part of the country, where would you do your calving?
BK: I keep part of my cows here, at home, and feed them all winter.
RW: Uh-huh.
BK: The other part goes down south, on some winter pasture.
RW: Is it your own land?
BK: No, it’s BLM.
RW: BLM? Do you guys have forest allotments out here?
BK: No, no.
RW: Just BLM?
BK: Just BLM; and then private.
RW: Um-hmm. Ranch Family Oral History Project: Bill Kimber Page 5
BK: I would say the calving is the start of the cyclical.
RW: Uh-huh.
BK: And like I said, I start the middle of February.
RW: Okay. What are you running out here? Are you doing Angus?
BK: I’ve got predominately Simmental, with an Angus cross.
RW: I’m not familiar with that.
BK: The Simmental breed?
RW: Um-hmm.
BK: Originally it’s from Switzerland. They milked them, worked them. So they’re a bigger breed, but through the years they’ve brought their size down; they’re very fertile, have a lot of milk, and I think – for my personal situation – they work really well.
RW: When you say your “personal situation” what do you mean? When you’re running your own cows, for yourself?
BK: Yes. Well, and every situation is different.
RW: Uh-huh.
BK: Some people have more irrigated pasture, some people like, have to feed their cows six, seven months out of the year, you know – supplement them.
RW: Uh-huh.
BK: For me, the Angus aren’t quite hardy enough for the winter range, but by crossing them – getting that hybrid bigger – the Simmental gives me just a little more milk, and little more size.
RW: And when you say milk, milk for the calves?
BK: Yes, yes.
RW: So you’re getting a bigger –
BK: Yes. A bigger end product, which in the cow-calf business – really, the amount of pounds you sell off per cow you have to take care of, that’s the bottom line.
[06:39] Ranch Family Oral History Project: Bill Kimber Page 6
RW: So, about February you’re starting to calve; and you’re saying you’ve got some close in, and some further out?
BK: Then there’s some on their own.
RW: I’ve been talking to folks this last year, and one thing that comes up is sickness. One cow boss mentioned to me that he has found that when they’re out a little further from the ranch they’re healthier; they don’t seem to get as sick as easily. Has that been something you’ve noticed?
BK: To a point. Anytime you group a bunch of animals, getting them in, let’s say a confined area and bunched up – they’re just like humans: the bacteria, the viruses pass from one to the other. When they’re out on the open range, they’re not congregated.
RW: Um-hmm.
BK: So that type of sickness doesn’t affect them as much.
RW: When you have some at two different places, how is that – how can you keep up? Are you out daily in both places, checking them?
BK: No. The ones I have at home, yes: I feed them every day, and check them pretty close. I don’t send the younger cows or the older cows; I send the middle aged (the strongest animals) to the winter range.
RW: The first-calvers you’ve got at home?
BK: Yes, yes.
RW: That’s who you’re keeping.
BK: And the older ones.
RW: I see.
BK: The ones that may need a little more nutrition.
RW: I see, okay. That makes sense.
BK: And back to your statement about the cow boss saying about the sickness – the one thing I’ve learned through the years (well, dad has kind of educated me there, but I’ve learned it more myself): a lot of people that do have a problem with scours, and that kind of sickness it’s nutrition.
RW: Hmm. Ranch Family Oral History Project: Bill Kimber Page 7
BK: If that cow is getting an adequate amount of nutrition, she’s going to do good, and so is the calf. You start to pinch them on that, then they’re more susceptible to the bacterias, and the viruses.
RW: That makes sense. So the cows you’re keeping in here, and you’re feeding the old, and the –
BK: First-calvers, yeah.
RW: Uh-huh. Are they calving about the same time as the others?
BK: Yes.
[08:58]
RW: That out on your BLM allotment?
BK: Yes, yes. They’re all exposed to the bulls at the same time of the year.
RW: Are they your bulls, or are you bringing in bulls to breed?
BK: I buy bulls. I don’t raise bulls.
RW: Okay.
BK: I buy them.
RW: So when you say you buy them, you buy them, and you keep them here – so how many bulls would you have?
BK: I’ve got eight.
RW: Um-hmm.
BK: See, I only run about 120 head of cattle, so.
RW: After the calving season, are you turning out the ones that are here, the old and the new?
BK: Yes.
RW: All of them are going out together?
BK: Yes, yes.
RW: Is that out on some BLM allotment?
BK: In the spring of the year – we can turn out the first of April, and yes, I turn everything out. Ranch Family Oral History Project: Bill Kimber Page 8
RW: Uh-huh.
BK: And they spend the month of April on a BLM allotment, and then they go to private summer pastures.
RW: Is that your, one of your –
BK: I lease some, and then I’m a member of an association.
RW: Can you talk about that? I worked a little bit with some people, up at the San Jacinto [Nevada], they had it –
BK: Similar.
RW: Similar to that?
BK: Yes.
RW: How many folks are in your –
BK: There’s 23 members.
RW: What’s it called?
BK: It’s called the Grouse Creek Livestock Association.
RW: I see.
BK: Each member can run 40 head of cows. And we control – oh, well we own (we control more), but we own about 18-19,000 acres in private ground.
RW: Does every member have to put in some of their own deeded ground, or how does that work?
BK: No. No, years (and when I say, “years” ago, I’m going to say 50 years ago) there was a sheep and cow outfit that was up for sale, and a group of guys went to the state of Utah and got a loan. It was a minimal interest loan, and formed an association that’s legal in the state of Utah; and bought that property.
[11:00]
RW: I see. And so that continues today?
BK: It does.
RW: Do people buy in and out of it? I mean, how does a person get into it? Ranch Family Oral History Project: Bill Kimber Page 9
BK: They pretty much have to buy into it, or some people – if the current member is their father, and they die – it can pass –
RW: Go to the family?
BK: Yes.
RW: Was your family part of the association?
BK: My dad was; I bought it from him.
RW: I see.
BK: I am currently the president of it.
RW: I see. What would a president do? What’s your responsibilities?
BK: Just like the president of any other company; it’s more delegating, just making sure – we have to fix fence, and buy supplies (like salt, fencing supplies), try to improve the ground a little bit. And I just kind of oversee it.
RW: What’s your water situation on that co-op land?
BK: It’s pretty good; there’s several creeks, springs. We try to update, maybe develop a spring, you know: put a trough in, or a pipeline.
RW: Um-hmm.
BK: The last four or five years – for a long time the people in Grouse Creek were (just like everywhere else) toss the cow out and look back later. We’ve tried to improve. We’ve sprayed quite a lot of brush, did some pasture improvements. And that’s just started the last four or five years.
RW: What kind of improvements?
BK: Spraying sage brush, mainly [laughs].
RW: I see.
BK: Because there’s a lot of sage brush in this country.
RW: Uh-huh. With your deeded ground, I think I’ve heard people have a lot more control over what’s going on, but on the BLM allotments, there’s a lot more restriction.
BK: Yes.
[12:49] Ranch Family Oral History Project: Bill Kimber Page 10
RW: How does that work, when you’re out on your BLM land – with the water and the grasses?
BK: You know, out here, the last ten years hasn’t been too bad. Fifteen years ago, the BLM was really getting carried away, you know; wanting to cut us, and if you wanted to go improve a spring – no, you couldn’t do that because you might kill a snail. You know, the restrictions that come with it.
RW: Right.
BK: The last few years it hasn’t been too bad. Dad used to cuss the BLM, I’m kind of glad they’re around right now, because – how do I put this? Some of the folks in this valley; if there wasn’t somebody watching them, they would over-graze it. And in my opinion, you’re just cutting your own throat.
RW: Um-hmm.
BK: If you don’t take care of it – regardless whether it’s government, or your private ground – it’s going to catch you, especially in this country. This country is extreme, you know.
RW: Explain that.
BK: When it’s 30 degrees in, say Tremonton or Brigham City, it is 15 here. Park Valley – their growing season is a month longer, and that’s not very far away than we are here.
RW: Um-hmm. Is that because of the elevation? Because of the closeness of the mountains? What’s the –
BK: I really don’t know, because we’re the same elevation as Park Valley. And the more extreme the country is, the more you abuse it, the harder it is to bring it back.
RW: Yeah, that makes sense.
BK: That’s my opinion.
[14:37]
RW: With your first-calf heifers, with this extreme weather – is that something that is a problem?
BK: It can be, yes. Yes, some years out here, when they start calving it can be 20 below zero.
RW: Um-hmm. Besides the cold, what kind of predators are you concerned about, and have problems with out here? Ranch Family Oral History Project: Bill Kimber Page 11
BK: Coyotes; some people have problem with them, others don’t. And there again, I attribute that to the condition of the cattle, because in my own experience (we’ve got a lot of coyotes right back up here, where I calve) – my cows hate dogs. This red dog you saw, he’s a cow dog, and a good one. But when I’ve got to do something with those cows when they have their cows on them, whether they’re little calves, or wiener calves – can’t use a dog though, they’ll fight them hard. But I think the coyotes get the weak, or the sick.
RW: So, if a mother cow is strong, she’s going to be able to protect her calf?
BK: That’s right, plus the calf isn’t so likely to get sick.
RW: Uh-huh, and a sick calf is going to be –
BK: That’s what the coyote gets.
RW: Right, yeah; I see. Are there other folks out here, on the home ranch, with you and your family?
BK: No.
RW: So, you bought out your brothers and sisters?
BK: I made a deal with mom and dad seven years ago, yes. It’s sort of a living trust-type situation.
RW: Uh-huh.
BK: So I took care of the rest of my family. Dad died five years ago. Mom – her health is such that she’s in assisted living situation down in Tremonton.
[16:38]
RW: Now, tell me a little bit about your wife and your kids. We talked earlier, before we were on tape – they’re up in Oakley.
BK: Um-hmm.
RW: Because you’ve got a son, or a daughter – I’m not sure.
BK: I’ve got a son that’s –
RW: A son that’s an eleventh grader.
BK: Um-hmm.
RW: Was he going to school, and all your kids, at the Grouse Creek School, until tenth grade? Ranch Family Oral History Project: Bill Kimber Page 12
BK: They were, yes. In the past – myself, when I went to high school in [19]’79 – I had five older sisters that had already gone to high school. I lived with a couple of them in Tremonton. Most people from Grouse Creek or Park Valley (the rural areas) will farm their kids out, you know, get a family for them to stay with.
My wife and I decided that that was too much of an imposition to ask other people to take care of our son, to go to high school. So we knew when the time come, she’d just take them all and go somewhere.
RW: Um-hmm.
BK: And Oakley is the closest.
RW: So this is just starting out? This is your first –
BK: No, last year; last year was the first year.
RW: Oh, last year; okay.
BK: Yep.
RW: How do you work it? Do they come home on the weekends?
BK: Yes.
RW: Do you go out there?
BK: They come home every weekend.
RW: Now, your oldest child is a boy.
BK: Um-hmm.
RW: That’s your son; what are your other kids?
BK: Parker is my boy, the junior; I have a girl, Kelton, she’s eighth grade. And then Lindy, that’s a girl, and she’s in sixth grade.
RW: So, I bet that’s kind of hard in a lot of ways. I mean, they’re probably your big helpers.
BK: They are; and getting to be more help all the time. I kept them out of school – I shipped my calves last Monday.
RW: Um-hmm.
BK: And I kept them out of school Monday.
[18:31] Ranch Family Oral History Project: Bill Kimber Page 13
RW: Do you do video auction, how do you sell your?
BK: Yes.
RW: Who?
BK: Superior.
RW: Superior.
BK: I pooled up with Sam Blanthorn (you may visit with him).
RW: Um-hmm, yeah we’re going to visit [him] tomorrow.
BK: And kind of pooled our calves.
RW: Okay. Who is your agent?
BK: Kelly Kunzler from Park Valley.
RW: Okay. Do you ever have – I know a lot of folks who use Superior, use video auction for their major –
BK: Um-hmm.
RW: But then maybe, if they’ve got some old cows that didn’t get pregnant, they maybe go to just a regular live auction. Do you do that?
BK: Um-hmm, yes.
RW: Where do you go for your live auction?
BK: Burley.
RW: Burley?
BK: Um-hmm.
RW: And how does that all work? What time-frame would the video auction company, Superior, come in and work with you, video? Is that in the middle summer?
BK: That is – oh, the first part of June.
RW: Um-hmm.
BK: And do a forward contract; you kind of have to have knowledge of what your weight is going to be, what your numbers are going to be.
RW: Um-hmm. And then do they come right on in here and pick up? Ranch Family Oral History Project: Bill Kimber Page 14
[19:34]
BK: Yes, yes.
RW: I don’t know, but it just sounds like it takes a lot of the stress and the guessing out of it.
BK: It takes the guess out of it; I think stress-wise, it’s about the same.
RW: Is it?
BK: Any time you’re putting, I guess it sounds strange for me, because I have a full-time job also, but when you’re putting your livelihood on the – it’s always stressful. I don’t care if you forward to it, or haul them to the live sale; there is stress involved.
RW: Can you talk about that stress? Because it’s one thing I haven’t really gone towards with people, you know, what are the factors? We talked a little bit about predators, we’ve talked a little about a sick cow. But can you talk about some of those stresses that a person is having?
BK: Mainly it’s “Can I get them all gathered when I need to?” Hopefully they weigh what they normally do, or better. Bottom line, is that check going to take care of bills until next year?
RW: Um-hmm.
BK: That’s the stress factor. You go to a live auction (which, that used to be the only auction), and those calves just shrink. The weight they would lose from the time you hauled them from here, to Burley, you know, varies: anywhere from five and eight percent.
RW: Right.
BK: Well, five and eight percent, when you’re selling 100,000 pounds of animals – that’s quite a lot of money; and a lot of times, that’s your margin.
RW: Right.
BK: It’s tight; that’s why I have a job.
RW: Let’s talk a little bit a bout that.
BK: [Laughs]
RW: That’s one thing I’ve noticed (and I mentioned before we went on tape) – a lot of the folks I talk with, there are other things people are doing: cow camps, some folks are involved in some kind of business on the side. Talk a little bit about what you’re doing. Ranch Family Oral History Project: Bill Kimber Page 15
You’ve worked for Simplot – were you doing the Simplot work, as well as having your own?
BK: Oh yes, yes.
RW: How did that work? How did you do two, basic ranches?
[21:50]
BK: In my own personal case (and I don’t know that everybody does it this way), I made a sacrifice or two on my own, personal – I mean, I kept my job, did a good job (or tried to). And then there were some things, like fencing, and stuff, that weren’t quite up to snuff for myself, but I just kind of pushed it off until I got time.
RW: Um-hmm.
BK: And I do the same now. There’s a lot of things, if I didn’t have a full-time job, the ranch itself would be in better shape. It’s kind of a juggling act.
RW: Right.
BK: But, as small as this place is, I really have no other choice.
RW: So, how long have you been working for the roads, and what all –
BK: Three years. And the reason I went from Simplot to the roads [Utah Department of Transportation] was financial; it was a better paying job. Anytime you deal with livestock, even if I was a hired cowboy, you’re still there 24/7.
RW: Right.
BK: They can’t get a drink themselves, or feed themselves; you can’t shut them off and, “See you Monday.”
[Laughing]
At least with the county road, unless there’s a bad storm (like in the winter) – which the last couple of winters it has been a pain trying to keep the roads open, and feeding the cows and taking care of the heifers.
RW: What roads are you managing?
BK: I go from – of course, all the stuff you’ve seen out here.
RW: Uh-huh. Ranch Family Oral History Project: Bill Kimber Page 16
BK: I go clear to Idaho, Nevada (over on this side), the top of the mountain up there, clear to Nevada to the south. I’ve got about – oh, I don’t know, about 160 miles of gravel road I have to maintain.
RW: Where is your machinery, and where do you get all of the salt and sand?
BK: No salt, no sand.
RW: No salt, no sand?
BK: No.
RW: Just pushing it?
BK: Just keeping the snow off.
RW: Okay.
BK: The shop – I don’t know if you recall, do you know where the Post Office is in Grouse Creek?
RW: The old, or the new?
BK: The new.
RW: I think so.
BK: Well, there’s a big, metal shed, with a red fire truck sitting by it – that’s the county shed.
RW: Okay.
BK: And that’s where my equipment is.
[24:17]
RW: So it’s the county – Box Elder County roads?
BK: Yes.
RW: Okay.
BK: But I’ve, you know, if I need some help I can call (I haven’t to this point, because I’m kind of hard-headed just to dive in, and get it done).
RW: How long have you gone, at one fell swoop, clearing roads?
BK: The most was my first year, in fact. And I had – that one week – I had 180 hours. Ranch Family Oral History Project: Bill Kimber Page 17
RW: What goes on during the other part of the year? I mean, I’m assuming in the middle of the summer you’re not doing a whole lot of road clearing. So is it seasonal, or it is just that you are doing something all the time, but maybe much more concentrated in the winter months?
BK: Yes. Well, more responsible in the winter months. I mean, if there are snow drifts, and people can’t – I got to take care of it.
RW: Um-hmm.
BK: In the summer time, if you get a rain storm, the grade some roads.
RW: Grading, um-hmm.
BK: If it’s so dry you can’t grade, go fix some cattle guards, culverts.
RW: Well I would think that would be a very –
BK: Pushing the snow – and you’re probably wondering how I get my cows fed and look at the cows. Well, I’ll make a loop for about four or five hours, and then I’ll have to come down to (this is a county road out here). Be in the snow plow, or grader, pull it over here for an hour, jump out, feed the cows. Give them a look-see, and then get back in it, and –
RW: Keep on. Just seems like that would be a pretty good job to get, I mean, to supplement a ranch.
BK: For this area?
RW: Oh, I mean, you’re kind of far out, so there’s not a lot of jobs out here.
BK: That’s right.
RW: I mean, are those kinds of jobs competitive? Are there other folks that are also kind of –
BK: For this job – Eldon Kimber was the road man for about 20 years, and he had a bad back. They had like 14 people put in for it. And that was a pretty big decision for me to quit Simplot; I’d worked for them for 25 years. But the bottom line is, the reason I’ve got a job is for money, and this one paid more. Plus, I have a little more control over my own hours.
RW: Besides the co-op that you’re the president of right now, are there other associations that you belong to within the area? Irrigation, or -- ?
BK: No. The water I have here is solely owned
[27:03] Ranch Family Oral History Project: Bill Kimber Page 18
RW: Is it a spring?
BK: Yes, and then I’ve got a reservoir; gravity-flow and sprinkler irrigate.
RW: Um-hmm. Was all that put in by your grandparents, your parents? How did it all get developed over the years?
BK: Well, my grandfather and his brothers built the first reservoir, and then dad spent some money and enlarged it, and put in the gravity-flow sprinkler system.
RW: Um-hmm.
BK: It used to be just flood irrigation.
RW: Do you still do a lot of haying here?
BK: Not as much as I would like to.
RW: Because of time?
BK: No, because of the limitations of the land I own and the amount of water.
RW: I see. So are you having to bring in hay or feed?
BK: Yeah, I usually have to buy 50 to 100 ton of hay, depending on the winter.
RW: Uh-huh. Are you – with your own operation in the summer time, are your son, your daughters, your wife – I mean are there other people (besides your nucleus family) that are working for you?
BK: No.
RW: Okay.
BK: No.
RW: I guess you can’t really speak for your children and your wife, but I wonder what it would be like going from a very small school – you did it yourself, to – I mean, not that Oakley is huge, by any means.
BK: No, no [laughs].
RW: But it’s not home.
[28:30]
BK: You know they enjoy school. I mean, there’s a lot more opportunities, if you will, for extra-curricular activities. My boy, he’s played football, basketball, rodeos. Kelton (the Ranch Family Oral History Project: Bill Kimber Page 19
8th grader) she’s playing basketball, and does this and that. Lindy, she’s into dance and gymnastics. And no, Oakley is not very big. You know, Bear River, when I went from Grouse Creek to Tremonton, it was like, “Holy Toledo!” I think Parker, in his class in Oakley, I think his junior class is I think 30 kids. And of course there was right at 300 when I went to high school. So it’s been a little easier for them that way, but they miss home. I mean they’re excited – boy, Friday can’t come quick enough. And then Sunday, when they go back over – its, “Do we have to go?”
“Yeah, you got to go.”
RW: Where are they living out there?
BK: We bought a house, actually. Last year we rented. The real estate market around Oakley is a little different from the rest of the country [laughs]. They’re not down; it’s hard to find something affordable, but we did. And it’s the same price as rent, the house payment is. And my wife – Lindy will graduate in six years – and she’s marking it on her calendar.
RW: Is she employed over there?
BK: Actually, she works with Heather War on the computer.
RW: Oh, does she?
BK: And has kind of a –
RW: A business?
BK: A business.
[30:26]
RW: Can you talk a little bit about that? Somebody actually is interviewing Heather, right now (one of my associates). But, is it clothing?
BK: It is; clothing, boots. Heather is kind of go-getter. My wife worked for a similar situation, headquartered in Lehi. And they – oh, she’s always worked a little with Heather on the side – and then that thing kind of went south. So now she’s working with Heather. I don’t know, somewhere around $15-18,000 a year.
RW: When you guys are here, and you’re all together, would your kids be involved with you checking the cows?
BK: Especially since they went to Oakley on the weeks, during the week I can’t get rid of them. I mean, every weekend for the last month we’ve been gathering cows – all of them, including my wife – I take them all. And they’re good to help. Ranch Family Oral History Project: Bill Kimber Page 20
RW: Um-hmm.
BK: Yeah, I can’t get away from them on the weekend [laughs], which is good.
RW: How many horses do you guys have out here?
BK: Oh, we have eight.
RW: Do you usually work off horse back?
BK: Yes.
RW: Or, use a pick-up?
BK: No, and our cows a little worse than other people’s.
RW: How so?
BK: If you’re not on horseback, they’re kind of rough to be around.
RW: Oh.
BK: If you’re horseback they’re just nice and gentle. That’s been the problem with me working through the years, I haven’t had enough time to get them acclimated to humans because my time has always been limited: get on a horse, get it done.
RW: Right. So they’re used to horse back?
BK: Yes; they’re not wild, they’re just not used to two-foot, you know, two-legged creatures.
RW: Uh-huh. So you said your son rodeos?
BK: Um-hmm.
RW: Did you also rodeo?
BK: No.
[32:24]
RW: Do your girls? Are they involved in that Gymkhana they have here, in town?
BK: Yes, yes. And they’re planning on high school rodeoing also.
RW: What does your son do?
BK: He calf ropes, team ropes and bull ropes. He’s not quite as thick as I am, but he’s about two inches taller; of course, his mom’s six foot, so. Ranch Family Oral History Project: Bill Kimber Page 21
RW: Where is your wife from?
BK: Bountiful.
RW: Bountiful; where did you guys connect?
BK: Oh, that’s quite a story. She had an aunt that lived up here for a period of time, Seacrests was their name; married a guy named Gary Seacrest, and he sold his property, and was going to be a rancher, and kind of went belly-up. But anyhow, she come to visit them when she was about ten, and she remembered me, for whatever reason. And when she got tired of the boys and stuff and town, she decided to come back out and see if I was still around. Of course, I had never went anywhere. [Laughs]
RW: So, a city girl coming to the country?
BK: Um-hmm.
RW: How was her transition to ranch life?
BK: You know, the first six months to a year were a little rough, and now she hates to go to town. So, I don’t know what to tell you there.
RW: Must have acclimated very well.
BK: On her computer, on her website or whatever, everybody’s got a little something on their (I’m computer illiterate, but) on their heading, on their email and stuff; hers is “Stockholm Syndrome Rocks.”
[Laughing]
RW: Well, we talked a little bit about the beginning of – what you would say the beginning of the cycle of the year, with calving. How does that play out for you throughout the rest of the year? You turn them out in April, on your BLM allotment; how long are they staying up there?
BK: For a month; we have to gather them again the first of May.
RW: And that’s when they’re coming on to the co-op?
BK: I’ll take half my herd there, and then I lease the other half (it’s called Pine Creek). It’s up there where the snow is the deepest; I lease that every year from Jeff Kimber.
[35:00]
And then yes – it’s a full week situation.
RW: So when you’re moving your cattle from place to place, are you trucking them? Ranch Family Oral History Project: Bill Kimber Page 22
BK: No, driving them.
RW: Driving them?
BK: Um-hmm.
RW: And is that a family affair? Everyone is working in the summer?
BK: It depends; if school doesn’t interrupt [laughs].
RW: So sometimes you’re driving and school may still be in, or have started up?
BK: Um-hmm. Or, a rodeo that weekend.
RW: Uh-huh. What’s your brand?
BK: It is a Lazy H, J. It’s a laying down H, with a J underneath it.
RW: Is that it right there? [Referencing something in the home.] I love the --
BK: Yep. Lindy made that.
RW: Okay.
BK: That was dad’s brand.
RW: How long has that brand been on this?
BK: Dad bought the place from my grandfather the year I was born, so 1964, and bought 100 head of cows. This place didn’t always run cattle.
RW: What did it have before, sheep?
BK: A farm. My grandfather made his living selling potatoes.
RW: Huh.
BK: And custom-harvesting grain and hay.
RW: Are many people farming out here these days?
BK: As much as they can; we’ve been in a drought – oh, for 20 years. It’s a lot drier now than it was when I was a kid.
RW: Hmm. Do many people have sheep up in this country?
BK: No, there isn’t any sheep at all anymore.
RW: Why? Ranch Family Oral History Project: Bill Kimber Page 23
BK: I don’t know. The sheep were gone when I was a kid.
RW: I see. Well, when you were working for Simplot being the cowboy, did you also have to hire? I mean, did you hire out – were there other hands that you brought on to help?
BK: Seasonally.
RW: Um-hmm.
BK: Like in the fall and the spring, when we was really busy and needed help, they would hire another guy. Yep.
RW: How do the skills to manage – how would they cross over in your two worlds: your own, personal ranch and ranching for a corporation?
BK: The cross over. Well, like this spring range I was talking about?
RW: Uh-huh.
BK: Simplot also put cows in there, so I could take care of Simplot’s and my own, all at the same time. When it comes to shipping calves in the fall, you know, selling – that was kind of a conflict. But the boss I had, Milt Oman is his name, we worked it out; it worked pretty good. I would make sure I had everything done for them that needed to be done; or if I had something real pressing, he knew that, you know [laughs]. Bill’s got to do it.
RW: Right, um-hmm. When you and your family, I don’t know, have time off –
BK: There’s no such thing.
RW: There’s no such thing. I mean, I guess like holiday time – is your family participating in the Grouse Creek Fourth of July activities for the Fourth?
BK: Oh, yes. Oh, yes.
RW: And other kinds of things. Can you talk a little bit about the play, the stuff that families do in a ranch community to recreate?
BK: Hmm. I guess really, to answer your question, the recreation is we all get to go. To move the cows. My wife likes it, the kids love it. Like the Fourth of July celebration they have up here, Sam kind of was in charge of it (Sam Blanthorn), and he tries to make sure I help. So, if I’m helping he’s got me and three kids and wife! We kind of put it on: do all the work, plus participate in it.
[39:28]
RW: Uh-huh. Ranch Family Oral History Project: Bill Kimber Page 24
BK: We really don’t take vacations. Oh, we might run to Wendover for dinner.
RW: Uh-huh. You know, you talked before about the desire to care for the land, because you were saying, if you’re going to over-graze, you’re going to –
BK: It’ll catch up to you.
RW: Catch up to you, as well.
BK: Yeah.
RW: What is it about this place, you know, I don’t want to be –
BK: Why I am still here?
RW: Yeah. I don’t want to be cheesy, but what does this place mean to you?
BK: It is home. Plain and simple [laughs]: it is home. And my dad, my grandfather, his dad; I guess it’s in my genes.
RW: Um-hmm.
BK: When my great-grandfather bought this property from the railroad, you know, you could still homestead. There was nicer country, if you will, and my great-grandfather was kind of an anti-social; kind of like me: hard-headed. And his brother said, “Why don’t we just go homestead all this nicer country further north?” He says, “That’s for people that need it.” He said, “I don’t need it. I’ve saved up my money.” He actually bought this property from the railroad, when there was bunches of country to homestead. So is it genetic? Or has it been pounded into my head? I don’t know.
My siblings still call this home. They come out and stay every weekend they can get a chance.
RW: Um-hmm. I noticed, there’s quite a few houses?
BK: Well, there’s three.
RW: So, you’ve got your home, here.
BK: This. And this little thing with a green roof – that’s my dad’s cousin, family. That’s the [??], and they come out once a week – I mean once a year.
RW: Oh, I see.
BK: And stay in that. He let them do that; I would like to get rid of them.
RW: [Laughing] And then the place behind you, here – is that an out building? Ranch Family Oral History Project: Bill Kimber Page 25
BK: There’s a granary, a chicken coop, a cabin shed, corrals.
RW: Do you keep chickens?
BK: Yeah, we’ve got chickens.
[42:10]
And the kids, they always have 4-H animals. This past year, the steers were too wild, so they all took hogs. We picked out some more steers; I hope they’re not quite as ornery.
RW: How does that work, when they’re over in Oakley? Do they come home and take care of them? I’m assuming they’re not taking them over to Oakley?
BK: No, they’re not.
RW: They’re keeping them here?
BK: Yeah, yeah. And then go to the Box Elder County fair.
RW: Oh, okay. Are your kids involved in FFA?
BK: Yes, Parker is. Of course, Kelton isn’t old enough yet, but she really leans that way.
RW: Um-hmm. How does that work?
BK: In fact, Parker’s in Elko today. They had a team that went to the range – oh, judging plants, range plants and stuff.
RW: Oh.
BK: They had a competition in Elko, and he’s down there today.
RW: Nice. I’m not sure how to phrase this, but you made me think of something when you talked about judging. There are so many things I’ve been learning about with ranching; there’s definitely animal husbandry, but there’s plant science, and water science. Can you talk a little bit about kind of the “hats”? These various hats that a rancher wears?
BK: Gosh, there are several. In order to survive, you’ve got to be all of those. In my opinion, you know, 50 years ago – and like I said, there are still some folks in this valley that run their operations that way, you know: turn them out, if you bring them back 60% calf crop, hey, you’ve got 60%. I can’t survive that way. I’ve got to have 95, plus, or I’m done.
Ranching, you’ve got to be a mechanic – the margin is too close today. Dad and I used to discuss this all the time. He says, “Well, your standard of living is too high.” He says, “You’ve got to have a color TV, you’ve got to have a nicer outfit.” And we used to Ranch Family Oral History Project: Bill Kimber Page 26
discuss this quite a bunch. And I said, “No, dad. They won’t let you live that way anymore.” I mean, the taxes – you’ve got to cover the bills. And rather than – say to work on that pick-up, rather than spend $50 an hour for a mechanic to work on it, you better do it yourself.
So yes, you’ve got to know the plant life, the water. You’ve got to take it all to its limit. And if you’re looking at it just today, which I know some people are, they’re not looking down the road ten years. In ten years they’re going to be in trouble with some of this native resource, if you will. Some of that science doesn’t know how to replace it, or reproduce it; and if you kill it, it’s gone.
[45:25]
RW: You have mentioned at different times working with BLM has been – like in your dad’s time it was kind of, maybe more problematic.
BK: Um-hmm.
RW: But you’re feeling like, from what I heard you saying, it’s been advantageous. In what way?
BK: Like I said, I think some of the people around, if they have a right to run 100 head of cows, if it wasn’t for the BLM, they would turn out 150.
RW: Hmm.
BK: And if I’m running on a calm allotment, I have no repercussion. I can see their damaging it, and it’s going to cost us down the road. If I did it like the old days, and went and hit him in the face – I’d go to jail. And if it wasn’t for the BLM, that one individual, or two individuals would screw it up for the rest of us.
RW: I see. Are there any kids from this area that are going – you had mentioned, you know, you came back to the ranch after high school. Are there kids, you know, going to the university to get training in grasses, or to get an Ag -- ?
BK: There has been some.
RW: Does that come back and trickle into the area?
BK: I guess I’m supposed to be honest, huh?
RW: You’re supposed to say what you feel comfortable saying.
[Laughing] Ranch Family Oral History Project: Bill Kimber Page 27
BK: I don’t think so. I think those that have had their eyes opened, and I guess progressive thinkers (trying to be progressive, and keep up to date) have done alright. Those that have went and got an education it was just – or, I shouldn’t say, “an education,” those that have gone to college, it was just because mom and dad said so. I don’t think they brought anything, or very little (I shouldn’t say “anything”), very little back that was useful.
RW: Hmm.
BK: Because I think a lot of times, and here, again I’m going to sound like a hick, and an anti-social – I think those that want to be progressive, and learn, and do well in college, they’ve got their formats, they’ve got their models. But those models don’t fit every situation, and I think if you’re in the situation, and you’re forward thinking, you can pick up more than you can get from a professor. And that’s just me; I know they’ve come up with a lot of things, but they don’t fit every situation.
RW: Do you guys – here, in this valley, or yourself – use much with the Extension agent?
[48:06]
BK: Very little, me personally.
RW: How is the – I guess the communication has changed quite a bit in the last 50 years.
BK: Yes.
RW: I mean, people have internet access, and I know there has been talk about a cell tower coming, potentially.
BK: Gosh, I hope not!
[Laughing]
RW: Has that affected your work – with ranching, with family, with your road work? The ability to communicate or the lack of the ability to communicate, at times?
BK: There again, some of us (and myself being one of those), the reason I choose to live here – that’s part of the reason. We’re not in the buzz of town life, and we like it that way. I don’t want sidewalks and oiled roads, because then that just brings more people. I’m not a recluse, but it would change the lifestyle.
RW: I see, yeah.
BK: And when I say I hope they don’t get a cell tower, then my boss in Tremonton for the county road, he thinks he can reach me at any time he wants to. I don’t like that [laughs]. Ranch Family Oral History Project: Bill Kimber Page 28
RW: With your long – I don’t know, your long-standing traditions of family here, the Kimber family – have your children kind of (they’re so young, so it’s probably too early to tell), are they voicing, like, “I want to stay,” or -- ?
BK: Yes, yes they are. And myself and their mother keep trying to put it in their heads that – when my grandfather raised potatoes and stuff, back in those days they didn’t even have electricity, so you worked until it was dark. But all you had to do was take care of yourself. Yeah, you sold enough potatoes so you could buy matches, and flour, and you know – it was more of barter type situation. You can’t do that anymore.
And so they’re going to have to get an education, be on line, for sure, and hopefully this place will stay in the family’s hands, but they’re going to have to have a side income because the situation has changed. Fifty years ago, listening to dad and grandpa you know, if you did everything just right, and Mother Nature was good to you, you might have saved up enough money to buy another 40 acres. That doesn’t happen anymore.
There are so many people, and a lot of them in this valley their heritage is from here, but they’ve got a job in Ogden or Salt Lake, and they want 40 acres to put a cabin up because it’s in Grouse Creek.
RW: Um-hmm.
BK: So they can pay ten times what I can pay. So the chance of it getting bigger, to make it a viable operation – that time has changed; that’s not going to happen.
[51:31]
RW: What do you see 20 years down the road, for ranching here?
BK: I see it being hobby farms and corporation. There’s not going to be anything in between. Do I think that’s bad? No. If that would have happened 20 years from now, I could get a little bigger. Because I choose to have a job, I choose to do outside things, I might could afford that couple hundred acres (because Simplot is not interested in 200 acres).
RW: You said Simplot, are there other big?
BK: There’s this Grouse Creek, LLC, which is owned by a guy named Darrel Neilson; he’s my neighbor on both sides. And it’s just a money outfit; there’s no ties. I don’t foresee people like that staying, you know. As soon as the real estate turns around and goes back up hill, they’ll sell it to somebody else.
RW: Is it only real estate, or does he have cattle on it?
BK: He’s got cattle, yeah. Oh, they’re running it, but as far as it being a life choice, no. Ranch Family Oral History Project: Bill Kimber Page 29
RW: Um-hmm.
BK: No.
RW: Well, I really appreciate you letting me come today.
BK: Well, I hope I didn’t sound –
RW: No, it’s amazing, it’s interesting. You’ve got such a beautiful view, just looking out your window here, I can see the attraction.
BK: Well, it’s old and, like I said, if I didn’t have to work, I would clean it up and make it look a little better. But there again, that’s one of the trade offs.
RW: Yeah.
BK: Cleaning up doesn’t make money.
RW: [Laughing] I’m going to turn this off, we can talk about that release form.
BK: Okay.
[53:21 – end recording]

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Ranch Family Oral History Project: Bill Kimber Page 1
RANCH FAMILY ORAL HISTORY PROJECT
TRANSCRIPTION COVER SHEET
Interviewee: Bill Kimber
Place of Interview: Kimber Home, Grouse Creek, Utah
Date of Interview: November 8, 2010
Interviewer: Randy Williams
Recordist: Randy Williams
Recording Equipment: Marantz digital recorder: model No: PMD660; Shure omnidirectional microphone: model no.MX 183
Transcription Equipment: Power Player Transcription Software: Executive Communication Systems with foot pedal
Transcribed by: Susan Gross
Transcript Proofed by: Randy Williams (8 February 2011); Bill did not return transcript with edits (3 August 2011)
Brief Description of Contents: Mr. Bill Kimber talks about his ranch property in Grouse Creek, Utah. He talks about being the fifth generation to ranch the family property and the other jobs he has worked in order to continuing ranching his own property.
Reference: RW = Randy Williams (Interviewer)
BK = Bill Kimber (Interviewee)
NOTE: Interjections during pauses or transitions in dialogue such as “uh” and starts and stops in conversations are not included in transcribed. All additions to transcript are noted with brackets.
TAPE TRANSCRIPTION
[00:01]
RW: I’m at Bill Kimber’s home here, in Grouse Creek/Etna – I’m not sure what you say.
BK: Grouse Creek.
RW: Grouse Creek? Ranch Family Oral History Project: Bill Kimber Page 2
BK: Yeah.
RW: It’s the eighth of November, 2010.
BK: Yes.
RW: Well Bill, tell me a little bit about your background: where you grew up, your family, your parents’ names, and so forth.
BK: I grew up here.
RW: Right here, in this place?
BK: Well, not this house.
RW: This very ground.
BK: The main house is over there in the trees. I went away for three years to high school; graduated high school in Tremonton: Bear River High; opted out of college, because at the time dad’s health wasn’t good.
RW: And your dad is Jack?
BK: Yes. My mother is Marian.
RW: What was your mom’s maiden name?
BK: Pearson.
RW: Pearson. Pearson – are there Pearson’s around here?
BK: In Nevada, in Montello.
RW: In Montello, okay.
BK: Her mother and father moved from Arco, Idaho, when she was eight years old, and bought a small ranch in the Montello area. Her dad worked for the old Sierra Pacific Ranch (which is the Gamble Ranch Winecup).
RW: Um-hmm.
BK: And then bought this place himself.
RW: Okay.
[01:26]
BK: Mom and dad met in Montello, because at the time, Montello had a high school. Ranch Family Oral History Project: Bill Kimber Page 3
RW: Oh.
BK: And that’s where my dad (who grew up here), that’s where he went to high school.
RW: What time period was that, when your folks were getting married?
BK: Oh, that had to be about 1950-’51.
RW: And your dad is Jack?
BK: Yes.
RW: When is your birthday? When were you born?
BK: Sixty-four. [1964] I did have eight siblings; my two older brothers died. One in an accident, one was crib death. But I do now have eight siblings. This particular ranch, I’m the fifth generation.
RW: Were they all Kimbers? Is it back to Kimber?
BK: Yes, yes. My great-grandfather came from England, landed in New York; ended up in Tooele, and then ended up buying this property from the railroad. And then he brought his mother and dad after he kind of got it secured; brought his mother and dad and brothers. And every Kimber in Grouse Creek, or around, started on this soil.
RW: Okay. Now I heard about a big Kimber reunion. Does your family participate in that?
BK: Not very often. They used to.
RW: Uh-huh.
BK: Before my time, they used to have it here.
RW: Did they?
[03:06]
BK: But, no.
RW: Well, let’s talk about your time in the ranching. You graduated from high school over in Tremonton, and then did you come back out here to the ranch?
BK: Yes.
RW: Have you ever worked for other ranches?
BK: I have. I started in the fall of [19]’83, I went to work for Simplot (which is the biggest ranch in this area). Ranch Family Oral History Project: Bill Kimber Page 4
RW: Uh-huh.
BK: And I worked for them, off and on, both part-time, full-time, until three years ago.
RW: What were some of the things you were doing for Simplot?
BK: I was a cowboy. The one and the only cowboy [laughs]. My official title was “lead cowboy.”
RW: Uh-huh. One of the things I’ve been talking to folks about is the cyclical nature of ranch work, starting – you know, it’s hard to decide – when do you start? Do you start at shipping and go through your season? Do you start in January? You know, when does a season start to you? Would you mind walking me through it?
BK: I don’t think I could put a season on it; it’s full time.
RW: Um-hmm, yeah right; it’s a full time job. So let’s start with this time, you know.
BK: Okay, I guess if I really had to think about it, I would think it starts in spring: when you start calving.
[04:30]
RW: Okay.
BK: About the middle of February.
RW: So in this part of the country, where would you do your calving?
BK: I keep part of my cows here, at home, and feed them all winter.
RW: Uh-huh.
BK: The other part goes down south, on some winter pasture.
RW: Is it your own land?
BK: No, it’s BLM.
RW: BLM? Do you guys have forest allotments out here?
BK: No, no.
RW: Just BLM?
BK: Just BLM; and then private.
RW: Um-hmm. Ranch Family Oral History Project: Bill Kimber Page 5
BK: I would say the calving is the start of the cyclical.
RW: Uh-huh.
BK: And like I said, I start the middle of February.
RW: Okay. What are you running out here? Are you doing Angus?
BK: I’ve got predominately Simmental, with an Angus cross.
RW: I’m not familiar with that.
BK: The Simmental breed?
RW: Um-hmm.
BK: Originally it’s from Switzerland. They milked them, worked them. So they’re a bigger breed, but through the years they’ve brought their size down; they’re very fertile, have a lot of milk, and I think – for my personal situation – they work really well.
RW: When you say your “personal situation” what do you mean? When you’re running your own cows, for yourself?
BK: Yes. Well, and every situation is different.
RW: Uh-huh.
BK: Some people have more irrigated pasture, some people like, have to feed their cows six, seven months out of the year, you know – supplement them.
RW: Uh-huh.
BK: For me, the Angus aren’t quite hardy enough for the winter range, but by crossing them – getting that hybrid bigger – the Simmental gives me just a little more milk, and little more size.
RW: And when you say milk, milk for the calves?
BK: Yes, yes.
RW: So you’re getting a bigger –
BK: Yes. A bigger end product, which in the cow-calf business – really, the amount of pounds you sell off per cow you have to take care of, that’s the bottom line.
[06:39] Ranch Family Oral History Project: Bill Kimber Page 6
RW: So, about February you’re starting to calve; and you’re saying you’ve got some close in, and some further out?
BK: Then there’s some on their own.
RW: I’ve been talking to folks this last year, and one thing that comes up is sickness. One cow boss mentioned to me that he has found that when they’re out a little further from the ranch they’re healthier; they don’t seem to get as sick as easily. Has that been something you’ve noticed?
BK: To a point. Anytime you group a bunch of animals, getting them in, let’s say a confined area and bunched up – they’re just like humans: the bacteria, the viruses pass from one to the other. When they’re out on the open range, they’re not congregated.
RW: Um-hmm.
BK: So that type of sickness doesn’t affect them as much.
RW: When you have some at two different places, how is that – how can you keep up? Are you out daily in both places, checking them?
BK: No. The ones I have at home, yes: I feed them every day, and check them pretty close. I don’t send the younger cows or the older cows; I send the middle aged (the strongest animals) to the winter range.
RW: The first-calvers you’ve got at home?
BK: Yes, yes.
RW: That’s who you’re keeping.
BK: And the older ones.
RW: I see.
BK: The ones that may need a little more nutrition.
RW: I see, okay. That makes sense.
BK: And back to your statement about the cow boss saying about the sickness – the one thing I’ve learned through the years (well, dad has kind of educated me there, but I’ve learned it more myself): a lot of people that do have a problem with scours, and that kind of sickness it’s nutrition.
RW: Hmm. Ranch Family Oral History Project: Bill Kimber Page 7
BK: If that cow is getting an adequate amount of nutrition, she’s going to do good, and so is the calf. You start to pinch them on that, then they’re more susceptible to the bacterias, and the viruses.
RW: That makes sense. So the cows you’re keeping in here, and you’re feeding the old, and the –
BK: First-calvers, yeah.
RW: Uh-huh. Are they calving about the same time as the others?
BK: Yes.
[08:58]
RW: That out on your BLM allotment?
BK: Yes, yes. They’re all exposed to the bulls at the same time of the year.
RW: Are they your bulls, or are you bringing in bulls to breed?
BK: I buy bulls. I don’t raise bulls.
RW: Okay.
BK: I buy them.
RW: So when you say you buy them, you buy them, and you keep them here – so how many bulls would you have?
BK: I’ve got eight.
RW: Um-hmm.
BK: See, I only run about 120 head of cattle, so.
RW: After the calving season, are you turning out the ones that are here, the old and the new?
BK: Yes.
RW: All of them are going out together?
BK: Yes, yes.
RW: Is that out on some BLM allotment?
BK: In the spring of the year – we can turn out the first of April, and yes, I turn everything out. Ranch Family Oral History Project: Bill Kimber Page 8
RW: Uh-huh.
BK: And they spend the month of April on a BLM allotment, and then they go to private summer pastures.
RW: Is that your, one of your –
BK: I lease some, and then I’m a member of an association.
RW: Can you talk about that? I worked a little bit with some people, up at the San Jacinto [Nevada], they had it –
BK: Similar.
RW: Similar to that?
BK: Yes.
RW: How many folks are in your –
BK: There’s 23 members.
RW: What’s it called?
BK: It’s called the Grouse Creek Livestock Association.
RW: I see.
BK: Each member can run 40 head of cows. And we control – oh, well we own (we control more), but we own about 18-19,000 acres in private ground.
RW: Does every member have to put in some of their own deeded ground, or how does that work?
BK: No. No, years (and when I say, “years” ago, I’m going to say 50 years ago) there was a sheep and cow outfit that was up for sale, and a group of guys went to the state of Utah and got a loan. It was a minimal interest loan, and formed an association that’s legal in the state of Utah; and bought that property.
[11:00]
RW: I see. And so that continues today?
BK: It does.
RW: Do people buy in and out of it? I mean, how does a person get into it? Ranch Family Oral History Project: Bill Kimber Page 9
BK: They pretty much have to buy into it, or some people – if the current member is their father, and they die – it can pass –
RW: Go to the family?
BK: Yes.
RW: Was your family part of the association?
BK: My dad was; I bought it from him.
RW: I see.
BK: I am currently the president of it.
RW: I see. What would a president do? What’s your responsibilities?
BK: Just like the president of any other company; it’s more delegating, just making sure – we have to fix fence, and buy supplies (like salt, fencing supplies), try to improve the ground a little bit. And I just kind of oversee it.
RW: What’s your water situation on that co-op land?
BK: It’s pretty good; there’s several creeks, springs. We try to update, maybe develop a spring, you know: put a trough in, or a pipeline.
RW: Um-hmm.
BK: The last four or five years – for a long time the people in Grouse Creek were (just like everywhere else) toss the cow out and look back later. We’ve tried to improve. We’ve sprayed quite a lot of brush, did some pasture improvements. And that’s just started the last four or five years.
RW: What kind of improvements?
BK: Spraying sage brush, mainly [laughs].
RW: I see.
BK: Because there’s a lot of sage brush in this country.
RW: Uh-huh. With your deeded ground, I think I’ve heard people have a lot more control over what’s going on, but on the BLM allotments, there’s a lot more restriction.
BK: Yes.
[12:49] Ranch Family Oral History Project: Bill Kimber Page 10
RW: How does that work, when you’re out on your BLM land – with the water and the grasses?
BK: You know, out here, the last ten years hasn’t been too bad. Fifteen years ago, the BLM was really getting carried away, you know; wanting to cut us, and if you wanted to go improve a spring – no, you couldn’t do that because you might kill a snail. You know, the restrictions that come with it.
RW: Right.
BK: The last few years it hasn’t been too bad. Dad used to cuss the BLM, I’m kind of glad they’re around right now, because – how do I put this? Some of the folks in this valley; if there wasn’t somebody watching them, they would over-graze it. And in my opinion, you’re just cutting your own throat.
RW: Um-hmm.
BK: If you don’t take care of it – regardless whether it’s government, or your private ground – it’s going to catch you, especially in this country. This country is extreme, you know.
RW: Explain that.
BK: When it’s 30 degrees in, say Tremonton or Brigham City, it is 15 here. Park Valley – their growing season is a month longer, and that’s not very far away than we are here.
RW: Um-hmm. Is that because of the elevation? Because of the closeness of the mountains? What’s the –
BK: I really don’t know, because we’re the same elevation as Park Valley. And the more extreme the country is, the more you abuse it, the harder it is to bring it back.
RW: Yeah, that makes sense.
BK: That’s my opinion.
[14:37]
RW: With your first-calf heifers, with this extreme weather – is that something that is a problem?
BK: It can be, yes. Yes, some years out here, when they start calving it can be 20 below zero.
RW: Um-hmm. Besides the cold, what kind of predators are you concerned about, and have problems with out here? Ranch Family Oral History Project: Bill Kimber Page 11
BK: Coyotes; some people have problem with them, others don’t. And there again, I attribute that to the condition of the cattle, because in my own experience (we’ve got a lot of coyotes right back up here, where I calve) – my cows hate dogs. This red dog you saw, he’s a cow dog, and a good one. But when I’ve got to do something with those cows when they have their cows on them, whether they’re little calves, or wiener calves – can’t use a dog though, they’ll fight them hard. But I think the coyotes get the weak, or the sick.
RW: So, if a mother cow is strong, she’s going to be able to protect her calf?
BK: That’s right, plus the calf isn’t so likely to get sick.
RW: Uh-huh, and a sick calf is going to be –
BK: That’s what the coyote gets.
RW: Right, yeah; I see. Are there other folks out here, on the home ranch, with you and your family?
BK: No.
RW: So, you bought out your brothers and sisters?
BK: I made a deal with mom and dad seven years ago, yes. It’s sort of a living trust-type situation.
RW: Uh-huh.
BK: So I took care of the rest of my family. Dad died five years ago. Mom – her health is such that she’s in assisted living situation down in Tremonton.
[16:38]
RW: Now, tell me a little bit about your wife and your kids. We talked earlier, before we were on tape – they’re up in Oakley.
BK: Um-hmm.
RW: Because you’ve got a son, or a daughter – I’m not sure.
BK: I’ve got a son that’s –
RW: A son that’s an eleventh grader.
BK: Um-hmm.
RW: Was he going to school, and all your kids, at the Grouse Creek School, until tenth grade? Ranch Family Oral History Project: Bill Kimber Page 12
BK: They were, yes. In the past – myself, when I went to high school in [19]’79 – I had five older sisters that had already gone to high school. I lived with a couple of them in Tremonton. Most people from Grouse Creek or Park Valley (the rural areas) will farm their kids out, you know, get a family for them to stay with.
My wife and I decided that that was too much of an imposition to ask other people to take care of our son, to go to high school. So we knew when the time come, she’d just take them all and go somewhere.
RW: Um-hmm.
BK: And Oakley is the closest.
RW: So this is just starting out? This is your first –
BK: No, last year; last year was the first year.
RW: Oh, last year; okay.
BK: Yep.
RW: How do you work it? Do they come home on the weekends?
BK: Yes.
RW: Do you go out there?
BK: They come home every weekend.
RW: Now, your oldest child is a boy.
BK: Um-hmm.
RW: That’s your son; what are your other kids?
BK: Parker is my boy, the junior; I have a girl, Kelton, she’s eighth grade. And then Lindy, that’s a girl, and she’s in sixth grade.
RW: So, I bet that’s kind of hard in a lot of ways. I mean, they’re probably your big helpers.
BK: They are; and getting to be more help all the time. I kept them out of school – I shipped my calves last Monday.
RW: Um-hmm.
BK: And I kept them out of school Monday.
[18:31] Ranch Family Oral History Project: Bill Kimber Page 13
RW: Do you do video auction, how do you sell your?
BK: Yes.
RW: Who?
BK: Superior.
RW: Superior.
BK: I pooled up with Sam Blanthorn (you may visit with him).
RW: Um-hmm, yeah we’re going to visit [him] tomorrow.
BK: And kind of pooled our calves.
RW: Okay. Who is your agent?
BK: Kelly Kunzler from Park Valley.
RW: Okay. Do you ever have – I know a lot of folks who use Superior, use video auction for their major –
BK: Um-hmm.
RW: But then maybe, if they’ve got some old cows that didn’t get pregnant, they maybe go to just a regular live auction. Do you do that?
BK: Um-hmm, yes.
RW: Where do you go for your live auction?
BK: Burley.
RW: Burley?
BK: Um-hmm.
RW: And how does that all work? What time-frame would the video auction company, Superior, come in and work with you, video? Is that in the middle summer?
BK: That is – oh, the first part of June.
RW: Um-hmm.
BK: And do a forward contract; you kind of have to have knowledge of what your weight is going to be, what your numbers are going to be.
RW: Um-hmm. And then do they come right on in here and pick up? Ranch Family Oral History Project: Bill Kimber Page 14
[19:34]
BK: Yes, yes.
RW: I don’t know, but it just sounds like it takes a lot of the stress and the guessing out of it.
BK: It takes the guess out of it; I think stress-wise, it’s about the same.
RW: Is it?
BK: Any time you’re putting, I guess it sounds strange for me, because I have a full-time job also, but when you’re putting your livelihood on the – it’s always stressful. I don’t care if you forward to it, or haul them to the live sale; there is stress involved.
RW: Can you talk about that stress? Because it’s one thing I haven’t really gone towards with people, you know, what are the factors? We talked a little bit about predators, we’ve talked a little about a sick cow. But can you talk about some of those stresses that a person is having?
BK: Mainly it’s “Can I get them all gathered when I need to?” Hopefully they weigh what they normally do, or better. Bottom line, is that check going to take care of bills until next year?
RW: Um-hmm.
BK: That’s the stress factor. You go to a live auction (which, that used to be the only auction), and those calves just shrink. The weight they would lose from the time you hauled them from here, to Burley, you know, varies: anywhere from five and eight percent.
RW: Right.
BK: Well, five and eight percent, when you’re selling 100,000 pounds of animals – that’s quite a lot of money; and a lot of times, that’s your margin.
RW: Right.
BK: It’s tight; that’s why I have a job.
RW: Let’s talk a little bit a bout that.
BK: [Laughs]
RW: That’s one thing I’ve noticed (and I mentioned before we went on tape) – a lot of the folks I talk with, there are other things people are doing: cow camps, some folks are involved in some kind of business on the side. Talk a little bit about what you’re doing. Ranch Family Oral History Project: Bill Kimber Page 15
You’ve worked for Simplot – were you doing the Simplot work, as well as having your own?
BK: Oh yes, yes.
RW: How did that work? How did you do two, basic ranches?
[21:50]
BK: In my own personal case (and I don’t know that everybody does it this way), I made a sacrifice or two on my own, personal – I mean, I kept my job, did a good job (or tried to). And then there were some things, like fencing, and stuff, that weren’t quite up to snuff for myself, but I just kind of pushed it off until I got time.
RW: Um-hmm.
BK: And I do the same now. There’s a lot of things, if I didn’t have a full-time job, the ranch itself would be in better shape. It’s kind of a juggling act.
RW: Right.
BK: But, as small as this place is, I really have no other choice.
RW: So, how long have you been working for the roads, and what all –
BK: Three years. And the reason I went from Simplot to the roads [Utah Department of Transportation] was financial; it was a better paying job. Anytime you deal with livestock, even if I was a hired cowboy, you’re still there 24/7.
RW: Right.
BK: They can’t get a drink themselves, or feed themselves; you can’t shut them off and, “See you Monday.”
[Laughing]
At least with the county road, unless there’s a bad storm (like in the winter) – which the last couple of winters it has been a pain trying to keep the roads open, and feeding the cows and taking care of the heifers.
RW: What roads are you managing?
BK: I go from – of course, all the stuff you’ve seen out here.
RW: Uh-huh. Ranch Family Oral History Project: Bill Kimber Page 16
BK: I go clear to Idaho, Nevada (over on this side), the top of the mountain up there, clear to Nevada to the south. I’ve got about – oh, I don’t know, about 160 miles of gravel road I have to maintain.
RW: Where is your machinery, and where do you get all of the salt and sand?
BK: No salt, no sand.
RW: No salt, no sand?
BK: No.
RW: Just pushing it?
BK: Just keeping the snow off.
RW: Okay.
BK: The shop – I don’t know if you recall, do you know where the Post Office is in Grouse Creek?
RW: The old, or the new?
BK: The new.
RW: I think so.
BK: Well, there’s a big, metal shed, with a red fire truck sitting by it – that’s the county shed.
RW: Okay.
BK: And that’s where my equipment is.
[24:17]
RW: So it’s the county – Box Elder County roads?
BK: Yes.
RW: Okay.
BK: But I’ve, you know, if I need some help I can call (I haven’t to this point, because I’m kind of hard-headed just to dive in, and get it done).
RW: How long have you gone, at one fell swoop, clearing roads?
BK: The most was my first year, in fact. And I had – that one week – I had 180 hours. Ranch Family Oral History Project: Bill Kimber Page 17
RW: What goes on during the other part of the year? I mean, I’m assuming in the middle of the summer you’re not doing a whole lot of road clearing. So is it seasonal, or it is just that you are doing something all the time, but maybe much more concentrated in the winter months?
BK: Yes. Well, more responsible in the winter months. I mean, if there are snow drifts, and people can’t – I got to take care of it.
RW: Um-hmm.
BK: In the summer time, if you get a rain storm, the grade some roads.
RW: Grading, um-hmm.
BK: If it’s so dry you can’t grade, go fix some cattle guards, culverts.
RW: Well I would think that would be a very –
BK: Pushing the snow – and you’re probably wondering how I get my cows fed and look at the cows. Well, I’ll make a loop for about four or five hours, and then I’ll have to come down to (this is a county road out here). Be in the snow plow, or grader, pull it over here for an hour, jump out, feed the cows. Give them a look-see, and then get back in it, and –
RW: Keep on. Just seems like that would be a pretty good job to get, I mean, to supplement a ranch.
BK: For this area?
RW: Oh, I mean, you’re kind of far out, so there’s not a lot of jobs out here.
BK: That’s right.
RW: I mean, are those kinds of jobs competitive? Are there other folks that are also kind of –
BK: For this job – Eldon Kimber was the road man for about 20 years, and he had a bad back. They had like 14 people put in for it. And that was a pretty big decision for me to quit Simplot; I’d worked for them for 25 years. But the bottom line is, the reason I’ve got a job is for money, and this one paid more. Plus, I have a little more control over my own hours.
RW: Besides the co-op that you’re the president of right now, are there other associations that you belong to within the area? Irrigation, or -- ?
BK: No. The water I have here is solely owned
[27:03] Ranch Family Oral History Project: Bill Kimber Page 18
RW: Is it a spring?
BK: Yes, and then I’ve got a reservoir; gravity-flow and sprinkler irrigate.
RW: Um-hmm. Was all that put in by your grandparents, your parents? How did it all get developed over the years?
BK: Well, my grandfather and his brothers built the first reservoir, and then dad spent some money and enlarged it, and put in the gravity-flow sprinkler system.
RW: Um-hmm.
BK: It used to be just flood irrigation.
RW: Do you still do a lot of haying here?
BK: Not as much as I would like to.
RW: Because of time?
BK: No, because of the limitations of the land I own and the amount of water.
RW: I see. So are you having to bring in hay or feed?
BK: Yeah, I usually have to buy 50 to 100 ton of hay, depending on the winter.
RW: Uh-huh. Are you – with your own operation in the summer time, are your son, your daughters, your wife – I mean are there other people (besides your nucleus family) that are working for you?
BK: No.
RW: Okay.
BK: No.
RW: I guess you can’t really speak for your children and your wife, but I wonder what it would be like going from a very small school – you did it yourself, to – I mean, not that Oakley is huge, by any means.
BK: No, no [laughs].
RW: But it’s not home.
[28:30]
BK: You know they enjoy school. I mean, there’s a lot more opportunities, if you will, for extra-curricular activities. My boy, he’s played football, basketball, rodeos. Kelton (the Ranch Family Oral History Project: Bill Kimber Page 19
8th grader) she’s playing basketball, and does this and that. Lindy, she’s into dance and gymnastics. And no, Oakley is not very big. You know, Bear River, when I went from Grouse Creek to Tremonton, it was like, “Holy Toledo!” I think Parker, in his class in Oakley, I think his junior class is I think 30 kids. And of course there was right at 300 when I went to high school. So it’s been a little easier for them that way, but they miss home. I mean they’re excited – boy, Friday can’t come quick enough. And then Sunday, when they go back over – its, “Do we have to go?”
“Yeah, you got to go.”
RW: Where are they living out there?
BK: We bought a house, actually. Last year we rented. The real estate market around Oakley is a little different from the rest of the country [laughs]. They’re not down; it’s hard to find something affordable, but we did. And it’s the same price as rent, the house payment is. And my wife – Lindy will graduate in six years – and she’s marking it on her calendar.
RW: Is she employed over there?
BK: Actually, she works with Heather War on the computer.
RW: Oh, does she?
BK: And has kind of a –
RW: A business?
BK: A business.
[30:26]
RW: Can you talk a little bit about that? Somebody actually is interviewing Heather, right now (one of my associates). But, is it clothing?
BK: It is; clothing, boots. Heather is kind of go-getter. My wife worked for a similar situation, headquartered in Lehi. And they – oh, she’s always worked a little with Heather on the side – and then that thing kind of went south. So now she’s working with Heather. I don’t know, somewhere around $15-18,000 a year.
RW: When you guys are here, and you’re all together, would your kids be involved with you checking the cows?
BK: Especially since they went to Oakley on the weeks, during the week I can’t get rid of them. I mean, every weekend for the last month we’ve been gathering cows – all of them, including my wife – I take them all. And they’re good to help. Ranch Family Oral History Project: Bill Kimber Page 20
RW: Um-hmm.
BK: Yeah, I can’t get away from them on the weekend [laughs], which is good.
RW: How many horses do you guys have out here?
BK: Oh, we have eight.
RW: Do you usually work off horse back?
BK: Yes.
RW: Or, use a pick-up?
BK: No, and our cows a little worse than other people’s.
RW: How so?
BK: If you’re not on horseback, they’re kind of rough to be around.
RW: Oh.
BK: If you’re horseback they’re just nice and gentle. That’s been the problem with me working through the years, I haven’t had enough time to get them acclimated to humans because my time has always been limited: get on a horse, get it done.
RW: Right. So they’re used to horse back?
BK: Yes; they’re not wild, they’re just not used to two-foot, you know, two-legged creatures.
RW: Uh-huh. So you said your son rodeos?
BK: Um-hmm.
RW: Did you also rodeo?
BK: No.
[32:24]
RW: Do your girls? Are they involved in that Gymkhana they have here, in town?
BK: Yes, yes. And they’re planning on high school rodeoing also.
RW: What does your son do?
BK: He calf ropes, team ropes and bull ropes. He’s not quite as thick as I am, but he’s about two inches taller; of course, his mom’s six foot, so. Ranch Family Oral History Project: Bill Kimber Page 21
RW: Where is your wife from?
BK: Bountiful.
RW: Bountiful; where did you guys connect?
BK: Oh, that’s quite a story. She had an aunt that lived up here for a period of time, Seacrests was their name; married a guy named Gary Seacrest, and he sold his property, and was going to be a rancher, and kind of went belly-up. But anyhow, she come to visit them when she was about ten, and she remembered me, for whatever reason. And when she got tired of the boys and stuff and town, she decided to come back out and see if I was still around. Of course, I had never went anywhere. [Laughs]
RW: So, a city girl coming to the country?
BK: Um-hmm.
RW: How was her transition to ranch life?
BK: You know, the first six months to a year were a little rough, and now she hates to go to town. So, I don’t know what to tell you there.
RW: Must have acclimated very well.
BK: On her computer, on her website or whatever, everybody’s got a little something on their (I’m computer illiterate, but) on their heading, on their email and stuff; hers is “Stockholm Syndrome Rocks.”
[Laughing]
RW: Well, we talked a little bit about the beginning of – what you would say the beginning of the cycle of the year, with calving. How does that play out for you throughout the rest of the year? You turn them out in April, on your BLM allotment; how long are they staying up there?
BK: For a month; we have to gather them again the first of May.
RW: And that’s when they’re coming on to the co-op?
BK: I’ll take half my herd there, and then I lease the other half (it’s called Pine Creek). It’s up there where the snow is the deepest; I lease that every year from Jeff Kimber.
[35:00]
And then yes – it’s a full week situation.
RW: So when you’re moving your cattle from place to place, are you trucking them? Ranch Family Oral History Project: Bill Kimber Page 22
BK: No, driving them.
RW: Driving them?
BK: Um-hmm.
RW: And is that a family affair? Everyone is working in the summer?
BK: It depends; if school doesn’t interrupt [laughs].
RW: So sometimes you’re driving and school may still be in, or have started up?
BK: Um-hmm. Or, a rodeo that weekend.
RW: Uh-huh. What’s your brand?
BK: It is a Lazy H, J. It’s a laying down H, with a J underneath it.
RW: Is that it right there? [Referencing something in the home.] I love the --
BK: Yep. Lindy made that.
RW: Okay.
BK: That was dad’s brand.
RW: How long has that brand been on this?
BK: Dad bought the place from my grandfather the year I was born, so 1964, and bought 100 head of cows. This place didn’t always run cattle.
RW: What did it have before, sheep?
BK: A farm. My grandfather made his living selling potatoes.
RW: Huh.
BK: And custom-harvesting grain and hay.
RW: Are many people farming out here these days?
BK: As much as they can; we’ve been in a drought – oh, for 20 years. It’s a lot drier now than it was when I was a kid.
RW: Hmm. Do many people have sheep up in this country?
BK: No, there isn’t any sheep at all anymore.
RW: Why? Ranch Family Oral History Project: Bill Kimber Page 23
BK: I don’t know. The sheep were gone when I was a kid.
RW: I see. Well, when you were working for Simplot being the cowboy, did you also have to hire? I mean, did you hire out – were there other hands that you brought on to help?
BK: Seasonally.
RW: Um-hmm.
BK: Like in the fall and the spring, when we was really busy and needed help, they would hire another guy. Yep.
RW: How do the skills to manage – how would they cross over in your two worlds: your own, personal ranch and ranching for a corporation?
BK: The cross over. Well, like this spring range I was talking about?
RW: Uh-huh.
BK: Simplot also put cows in there, so I could take care of Simplot’s and my own, all at the same time. When it comes to shipping calves in the fall, you know, selling – that was kind of a conflict. But the boss I had, Milt Oman is his name, we worked it out; it worked pretty good. I would make sure I had everything done for them that needed to be done; or if I had something real pressing, he knew that, you know [laughs]. Bill’s got to do it.
RW: Right, um-hmm. When you and your family, I don’t know, have time off –
BK: There’s no such thing.
RW: There’s no such thing. I mean, I guess like holiday time – is your family participating in the Grouse Creek Fourth of July activities for the Fourth?
BK: Oh, yes. Oh, yes.
RW: And other kinds of things. Can you talk a little bit about the play, the stuff that families do in a ranch community to recreate?
BK: Hmm. I guess really, to answer your question, the recreation is we all get to go. To move the cows. My wife likes it, the kids love it. Like the Fourth of July celebration they have up here, Sam kind of was in charge of it (Sam Blanthorn), and he tries to make sure I help. So, if I’m helping he’s got me and three kids and wife! We kind of put it on: do all the work, plus participate in it.
[39:28]
RW: Uh-huh. Ranch Family Oral History Project: Bill Kimber Page 24
BK: We really don’t take vacations. Oh, we might run to Wendover for dinner.
RW: Uh-huh. You know, you talked before about the desire to care for the land, because you were saying, if you’re going to over-graze, you’re going to –
BK: It’ll catch up to you.
RW: Catch up to you, as well.
BK: Yeah.
RW: What is it about this place, you know, I don’t want to be –
BK: Why I am still here?
RW: Yeah. I don’t want to be cheesy, but what does this place mean to you?
BK: It is home. Plain and simple [laughs]: it is home. And my dad, my grandfather, his dad; I guess it’s in my genes.
RW: Um-hmm.
BK: When my great-grandfather bought this property from the railroad, you know, you could still homestead. There was nicer country, if you will, and my great-grandfather was kind of an anti-social; kind of like me: hard-headed. And his brother said, “Why don’t we just go homestead all this nicer country further north?” He says, “That’s for people that need it.” He said, “I don’t need it. I’ve saved up my money.” He actually bought this property from the railroad, when there was bunches of country to homestead. So is it genetic? Or has it been pounded into my head? I don’t know.
My siblings still call this home. They come out and stay every weekend they can get a chance.
RW: Um-hmm. I noticed, there’s quite a few houses?
BK: Well, there’s three.
RW: So, you’ve got your home, here.
BK: This. And this little thing with a green roof – that’s my dad’s cousin, family. That’s the [??], and they come out once a week – I mean once a year.
RW: Oh, I see.
BK: And stay in that. He let them do that; I would like to get rid of them.
RW: [Laughing] And then the place behind you, here – is that an out building? Ranch Family Oral History Project: Bill Kimber Page 25
BK: There’s a granary, a chicken coop, a cabin shed, corrals.
RW: Do you keep chickens?
BK: Yeah, we’ve got chickens.
[42:10]
And the kids, they always have 4-H animals. This past year, the steers were too wild, so they all took hogs. We picked out some more steers; I hope they’re not quite as ornery.
RW: How does that work, when they’re over in Oakley? Do they come home and take care of them? I’m assuming they’re not taking them over to Oakley?
BK: No, they’re not.
RW: They’re keeping them here?
BK: Yeah, yeah. And then go to the Box Elder County fair.
RW: Oh, okay. Are your kids involved in FFA?
BK: Yes, Parker is. Of course, Kelton isn’t old enough yet, but she really leans that way.
RW: Um-hmm. How does that work?
BK: In fact, Parker’s in Elko today. They had a team that went to the range – oh, judging plants, range plants and stuff.
RW: Oh.
BK: They had a competition in Elko, and he’s down there today.
RW: Nice. I’m not sure how to phrase this, but you made me think of something when you talked about judging. There are so many things I’ve been learning about with ranching; there’s definitely animal husbandry, but there’s plant science, and water science. Can you talk a little bit about kind of the “hats”? These various hats that a rancher wears?
BK: Gosh, there are several. In order to survive, you’ve got to be all of those. In my opinion, you know, 50 years ago – and like I said, there are still some folks in this valley that run their operations that way, you know: turn them out, if you bring them back 60% calf crop, hey, you’ve got 60%. I can’t survive that way. I’ve got to have 95, plus, or I’m done.
Ranching, you’ve got to be a mechanic – the margin is too close today. Dad and I used to discuss this all the time. He says, “Well, your standard of living is too high.” He says, “You’ve got to have a color TV, you’ve got to have a nicer outfit.” And we used to Ranch Family Oral History Project: Bill Kimber Page 26
discuss this quite a bunch. And I said, “No, dad. They won’t let you live that way anymore.” I mean, the taxes – you’ve got to cover the bills. And rather than – say to work on that pick-up, rather than spend $50 an hour for a mechanic to work on it, you better do it yourself.
So yes, you’ve got to know the plant life, the water. You’ve got to take it all to its limit. And if you’re looking at it just today, which I know some people are, they’re not looking down the road ten years. In ten years they’re going to be in trouble with some of this native resource, if you will. Some of that science doesn’t know how to replace it, or reproduce it; and if you kill it, it’s gone.
[45:25]
RW: You have mentioned at different times working with BLM has been – like in your dad’s time it was kind of, maybe more problematic.
BK: Um-hmm.
RW: But you’re feeling like, from what I heard you saying, it’s been advantageous. In what way?
BK: Like I said, I think some of the people around, if they have a right to run 100 head of cows, if it wasn’t for the BLM, they would turn out 150.
RW: Hmm.
BK: And if I’m running on a calm allotment, I have no repercussion. I can see their damaging it, and it’s going to cost us down the road. If I did it like the old days, and went and hit him in the face – I’d go to jail. And if it wasn’t for the BLM, that one individual, or two individuals would screw it up for the rest of us.
RW: I see. Are there any kids from this area that are going – you had mentioned, you know, you came back to the ranch after high school. Are there kids, you know, going to the university to get training in grasses, or to get an Ag -- ?
BK: There has been some.
RW: Does that come back and trickle into the area?
BK: I guess I’m supposed to be honest, huh?
RW: You’re supposed to say what you feel comfortable saying.
[Laughing] Ranch Family Oral History Project: Bill Kimber Page 27
BK: I don’t think so. I think those that have had their eyes opened, and I guess progressive thinkers (trying to be progressive, and keep up to date) have done alright. Those that have went and got an education it was just – or, I shouldn’t say, “an education,” those that have gone to college, it was just because mom and dad said so. I don’t think they brought anything, or very little (I shouldn’t say “anything”), very little back that was useful.
RW: Hmm.
BK: Because I think a lot of times, and here, again I’m going to sound like a hick, and an anti-social – I think those that want to be progressive, and learn, and do well in college, they’ve got their formats, they’ve got their models. But those models don’t fit every situation, and I think if you’re in the situation, and you’re forward thinking, you can pick up more than you can get from a professor. And that’s just me; I know they’ve come up with a lot of things, but they don’t fit every situation.
RW: Do you guys – here, in this valley, or yourself – use much with the Extension agent?
[48:06]
BK: Very little, me personally.
RW: How is the – I guess the communication has changed quite a bit in the last 50 years.
BK: Yes.
RW: I mean, people have internet access, and I know there has been talk about a cell tower coming, potentially.
BK: Gosh, I hope not!
[Laughing]
RW: Has that affected your work – with ranching, with family, with your road work? The ability to communicate or the lack of the ability to communicate, at times?
BK: There again, some of us (and myself being one of those), the reason I choose to live here – that’s part of the reason. We’re not in the buzz of town life, and we like it that way. I don’t want sidewalks and oiled roads, because then that just brings more people. I’m not a recluse, but it would change the lifestyle.
RW: I see, yeah.
BK: And when I say I hope they don’t get a cell tower, then my boss in Tremonton for the county road, he thinks he can reach me at any time he wants to. I don’t like that [laughs]. Ranch Family Oral History Project: Bill Kimber Page 28
RW: With your long – I don’t know, your long-standing traditions of family here, the Kimber family – have your children kind of (they’re so young, so it’s probably too early to tell), are they voicing, like, “I want to stay,” or -- ?
BK: Yes, yes they are. And myself and their mother keep trying to put it in their heads that – when my grandfather raised potatoes and stuff, back in those days they didn’t even have electricity, so you worked until it was dark. But all you had to do was take care of yourself. Yeah, you sold enough potatoes so you could buy matches, and flour, and you know – it was more of barter type situation. You can’t do that anymore.
And so they’re going to have to get an education, be on line, for sure, and hopefully this place will stay in the family’s hands, but they’re going to have to have a side income because the situation has changed. Fifty years ago, listening to dad and grandpa you know, if you did everything just right, and Mother Nature was good to you, you might have saved up enough money to buy another 40 acres. That doesn’t happen anymore.
There are so many people, and a lot of them in this valley their heritage is from here, but they’ve got a job in Ogden or Salt Lake, and they want 40 acres to put a cabin up because it’s in Grouse Creek.
RW: Um-hmm.
BK: So they can pay ten times what I can pay. So the chance of it getting bigger, to make it a viable operation – that time has changed; that’s not going to happen.
[51:31]
RW: What do you see 20 years down the road, for ranching here?
BK: I see it being hobby farms and corporation. There’s not going to be anything in between. Do I think that’s bad? No. If that would have happened 20 years from now, I could get a little bigger. Because I choose to have a job, I choose to do outside things, I might could afford that couple hundred acres (because Simplot is not interested in 200 acres).
RW: You said Simplot, are there other big?
BK: There’s this Grouse Creek, LLC, which is owned by a guy named Darrel Neilson; he’s my neighbor on both sides. And it’s just a money outfit; there’s no ties. I don’t foresee people like that staying, you know. As soon as the real estate turns around and goes back up hill, they’ll sell it to somebody else.
RW: Is it only real estate, or does he have cattle on it?
BK: He’s got cattle, yeah. Oh, they’re running it, but as far as it being a life choice, no. Ranch Family Oral History Project: Bill Kimber Page 29
RW: Um-hmm.
BK: No.
RW: Well, I really appreciate you letting me come today.
BK: Well, I hope I didn’t sound –
RW: No, it’s amazing, it’s interesting. You’ve got such a beautiful view, just looking out your window here, I can see the attraction.
BK: Well, it’s old and, like I said, if I didn’t have to work, I would clean it up and make it look a little better. But there again, that’s one of the trade offs.
RW: Yeah.
BK: Cleaning up doesn’t make money.
RW: [Laughing] I’m going to turn this off, we can talk about that release form.
BK: Okay.
[53:21 – end recording]